PROMPT: Dogs or Cats?

Daily writing prompt
Dogs or cats?

Who would win in an interspecies death match? That’s a tough one. Dogs obviously have size and pack-fighting coordination, but cats are duplicitous, excel at the sneak attack, and are not constrained by moral conventions. (They’ll push things off the counter just to see them fall.) So, I doubt we’ll ever know.

Bookstore Cat [Senryū]

bookstore cat
sleeps soundly on a book
about dogs.

PROMPT: Pet Tricks

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

Partial differential equations. First of all, then it could explain them to me. Secondly, I could completely demoralize all the Westminster types who think they have “smart dogs.”

Dog Union [Senryū]

dogs have gathered
in military formation;
humans are nervous.

Wee Hours War [Lyric Poem]

The dogs were in a wee hours war:
Growling and snapping and howling,
Breaching night's plutonian shore,
And sweet dreams those barks were fouling.

What monstrous dreamland incursions
That yapping must have brought about.
Bucolic scenes turned perversions
Of bared teeth and menacing snout.

Go-Getter [Senryū]

when you’re the family 
go-getter, and yet you’re
a zoned-out mess.

Derelict Dogs [Haiku]

two street puppies:
one with laser-like focus,
one oblivious

Puppy Nook [Haiku]

two puppies
squeeze into a nook,
sharing warmth

BOOK REVIEW: Stray Dogs by Tony Fleecs

Stray DogsStray Dogs by Tony Fleecs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Out: September 21, 2021

Like Watership Down, this story is told about animals through the eyes of animals, but – in this case – it’s a house full of dogs. The story begins on a placid enough note. The one human character has a lot of dogs, but it’s not a crazy-cat-lady situation, the animals seem well cared for and the reader has a brief moment to see the man admiringly, as a dog-lover who cares for strays. But those feelings are short-lived. The newest dog, Sophie, begins to get memory flashes about her life before she moved into the house, and she faces an intense challenge in convincing the other dogs that all is not as it seems. The dogs like the man. He feeds them, and – as long as they behave – they have a pretty comfortable existence. Only gradually are we shown the man’s nefarious side, what happens when the dogs don’t behave.

This graphic novel has a simple but taught story arc, and is a visceral read. It does get dark, so one shouldn’t be lured by the cuteness factor into thinking that it’s some sort of lighthearted romp – it’s definitely not. If you’re alright with tragic scenes woven into what otherwise might seem Disney-like, you’ll probably find this book engrossing, but sensitive readers may find it a bit revolting.

View all my reviews

Dog Pile [Haiku]

pile of puppies,
wrestling playfully -
savage cute